Also "close quote" especially in programming circles. This is parallel to the use of "open" and "close" parenthesis, braces, and brackets.
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dmckeeDec 23 '10 at 22:25

Someone tell me where I got "en quote" from, which is what I have thought it was my entire life....when my 11 year old told me it was unquote, I thought that was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. Did I have a bad instructor or something?
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user7802Apr 26 '11 at 2:24

[4.]c. quote ... unquote: a
formula used in dictation to introduce
and terminate a quotation. Freq.
transf., in speech or writing,
introducing and terminating words
quoted (or ironically imagined to be
quoted) from the speech or writing of
another.

I've heard people say "unquote" but always assumed it was a corruption of end-quote. Wiktionary backs up this assertion. A quick search of the Corpus of Conteporary American English finds 288 instances of unquote near "quote", typically in a phrase such as

This question was the source of a heated debate with a friend so some additional research had to be done. We determined that both "end quote" and "unquote" co-evolved with the telegram (1861-1901) and the Dictaphone (1881-1907). (Dates are the approximate period of evolution from early implementation of the technology to first documented use of "end quote" or "unquote" associated with the technology.) Neither term existed before these technologies.

Western Union provided these instructions to secretaries, circa 1907:

"As punctuation-marks are neither counted nor sent except on written instructions to send them, these marks may be omitted, with the exception of the period and interrogation-point.
But in important telegrams, where a direct quotation is to be transmitted, the safest method is to name the marks of punctuation, including the quotation-marks, as in the following example:

Insert in mortgage on page nine, end of first paragraph, these words quote in case of default in payment of the bonds comma...retain possession of the property period end quote.

The earliest examples we could find in print were in transcripts of official government telegrams circa 1901 and all of those examples were "end quote."

The earliest examples of "unquote" in print were also in transcripts of official government telegrams circa 1910 with the notable distinction that they were all trans-Atlantic telegrams.

It seems that two standards had evolved. "End quote" was being used in domestic telegrams and "unquote" was being used by the operators of the trans-Atlantic cables. Usage of both terms were approximately equal in rarity until the mid-1930's when there was a sudden up-tick in the volume of trans-Atlantic communication of an official nature due to the war. "Unquote" suddenly became much more common although "End quote" did not become less common than it had been. The combined usage of the two terms increased dramatically with nearly all of the new instances "unquote."

As a standard in telegrams, "end quote" definitely came first but it was completely supplanted by "unquote." When punctuation was spelled out for transmission, it was transmitted as written (in words rather than symbols) Based on the practice of charging by the word, "unquote" is one word cheaper to transmit. Both widespread exposure to cable operators during the war and the one-word cost economy may have influenced the switch. By 1954, a similar manual to business users as the 1907 instruction pamphlet advises the use of "unquote."

Both terms have lived on outside of their narrow functional purpose essentially interchangeable. "Unquote" is now far more common; "end quote" is a bit of an anachronism perhaps charming for that reason.

Unquote also has the major advantage of being a word which would be unlikely to appear within quoted material. If instructed to change some text to QUOTE I THINK IT SHOULD END QUOTE, should the text include or not include the word "END"? Not sure if that's the main reason, since telegrams for whatever reason show transmission breaks the same as the word "stop" [what does "HE SHOULD STOP GOING TO VISIT HER" mean?], but it would seem a logical argument in favor of "UNQUOTE".
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supercatAug 1 '14 at 18:36

One cannot "unquote" a phrase or word if it is being quoted, unless of course you want to remove the word or phrase being quoted. Doesn't that make sense? To "seal" a quote, one must "end quote", or, "end of quote" which satifies and finalizes the context stated. The term "unquote" must have become common when it was accidently misconstrued with "end quote".

I value what my eighth grade teacher taught the lot of us upon a student "quoting" and "unquoting" something said that I've long forgotten. But I will always remember his lesson to be shared immediately there after on a quoted word or phrase...

If anyone can search historically where this term might have become transformed to it's hideous present (save many reporters and announcers on NPR), I would appreciate the info!